London, June 11:
India today stormed into the semi-final of the ICC Champions Trophy tournament with a resounding eight-wicket victory over West Indies, riding on Shikhar Dhawan’s second consecutive ODI century.
The Indians first restricted the Caribbeans to 233 for nine as Ravindra Jadeja (5/36) ripped through the middle-order as Dhawan yet again took centrestage with dazzling strokeplay to give India its second win in as many matches in group B.
The 27-year-old Delhi boy, who made a spectacular Test debut against Australia with a knock of 187, had scored a match-winning 114 against South Africa in the tournament opener.
The stylish left-hander yet again sizzled at the Oval as his unbeaten knock of 102 helped the ‘Men In Blue’ chase down a target with 65 balls to spare. Dhawan smashed 10 fours and a six in the process.
The three-figure mark was achieved with a slashed six off Dwayne Bravo over backward point and then played dot balls to allow his partner Dinesh Karthik (50 no) to complete his well-deserved half-century.
Dhawan is enjoying a golden period in international cricket as his three knocks since comeback into Indian team has been centuries (187, 114, 102 no).
India thus made it to the last four of the Champions Trophy after a gap of 11 years with the last time being way back in 2002.
The opening pair is turning out to be a smash hit in the tournament as yet again Dhawan and Rohit Sharma added 101 in only 15.3 overs to lay the foundation of a comfortable victory.
Rohit, who is revelling in the role of an opener again scored a half-century. Rohit’s 52 came off 56 balls with seven boundaries. While Virat Kohli (22) couldn’t cash in, Karthik who hit eight boundaries in his 54-ball knock proved to be an able ally as they added 109 runs for the undefeated 3rd wicket stand in 19.1 overs.
India will now play Pakistan in Birmingham on June 15.
The West Indian attack looked loose and stingless on a placid wicket. West Indies pace spearhead Kemar Roach turned out to be the biggest disappointment. Erring in line and length, he let the Indian batsmen free their arms, conceding almost eight runs an over.
Sharma and Dhawan paced their innings to a nicety. They ran hard and knew the value of patience. And as the West Indian pacers gave them width, the batsmen plundered runs with strokes square of the wicket. Most of Sharma’s seven boundaries pierced the gap between point and extra-cover.
India scored at a slightly better pace than the West Indians. The first 10 overs produced 66 runs with almost equal contribution from the openers but Sharma broke free getting to his 50 first off 52 balls.
India lost their first wicket when Sharma was out for 52 in the 16th over. The TV umpire overturned the on-field umpire’s decision after West Indies successfully reviewed an appeal for caught behind against Sharma. Hotspot revealed a faint nick and Sunil Narine finally broke the opening stand.
Playing his 100th ODI, Virat Kohli arrived to the crease with aggressive intent. First ball, he delicately cut Narine to the third-man fence.
With the light worsening and a little drizzle sweeping the stadium, Kohli played a timely cameo to always keep India ahead on the run-rate. Narine got his pound of flesh when he bowled Kohli for an 18-ball 22, the batsman playing across the line of a ball that kept straight after pitching.(PTI)
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